working around electrical equipment Posts

On Saturday, February 25, 2017, customers in Baie Verte and and surrounding areas experienced an outage as a result of a tree falling into a transmission line. This caused loss of power to our entire Seal Cove Substation, leaving approximately 1,000 customers without power for about 3.5 hours. The tree made contact with the energized line as a result of an individual cutting trees around his cabin.

This incident could have resulted in severe injury or even death for the individual cutting the trees as well as anyone who may have been in close proximity. It is also an extremely dangerous situation for our employees who must visit the site to make repairs. Our first concern is, and always will be, the safety of our employees, customers, contractors and the public.

We’re only two months into 2017 and we’ve already had three incidents involving individuals cutting trees that have fallen into power lines.

Trimming trees around power lines should only be attempted by trained professionals. Serious injuries and even fatalities have occurred when untrained individuals attempt to do this work themselves. Each tree trimmer working for Newfoundland Power is an experienced, trained professional. Tree trimming is carried out in the immediate vicinity of energized high voltage power lines and only by qualified personnel.

On Saturday, November 5, 2016, over 4,300 customers in the Lewisporte area experienced a lengthy power outage. This outage was the result of individuals cutting trees in close proximity to electrical infrastructure. In this instance, one of the trees actually fell directly into a high voltage transmission line.

Of course this creates a major safety concern for those in the immediate vicinity of the contact. It also results in needless power outages to homes and business, not to mention critical locations such as hospitals, clinics and customers that rely on electricity to run home-based medical support equipment.

In this particular case, Newfoundland Power crews that responded to the incident found significant evidence of burning on the tree and at the base where the tree had been standing. Not only could the individual who was cutting the tree have been seriously injured or killed, but the same could also apply to anyone that was in close proximity to the tree at the time of the contact. Make sure you think about this the next time you are cutting trees, whether you are completing a commercial job, or you are just out to cut firewood or find the perfect Christmas tree – as our safety ads say, make sure you Look Up Before You Cut.

It was only pure luck that no one was seriously injured or killed as result of this incident, however, we cannot say the same for similar situations in the past. Please don’t take this warning for granted. It could mean the difference between life and death.

If you see someone cutting wood in close proximity to a power line please let us know immediately by calling our emergency line at 1-800-474-5711.

Think Safe. Live Safe.

Newfoundland Power

For approximately 130 years, we have provided customers with safe, reliable electricity in the most cost-efficient manner possible and now we’re happy to provide you with the latest news in these areas on our blog.